Virtually all of the many anti-neoplastic drugs that are currently used in the treatment of cancer have very serious and harmful side effects. This is because cancer is generally treated with medications that interfere with the growth of rapidly dividing cells. Such medications can inhibit the growth of the cancer cells, but they almost always also inhibit the growth of normal cells that divide rapidly in the body. Some of the normal tissues that divide very rapidly include bone marrow (which produces blood cells), hair follicles, and intestinal epithelium. The usefulness of virtually all anti-neoplastic drugs is severely limited by the damage they cause to these normal tissues.
This invention relates to methods for treating neoplasia using both Iressa (chemical name 4-quinazolinamine, N-(3-chloro-4-fluorophenyl)-7-methoxy-6-[3-(4-morpholinyl)propoxy]-(9CI)) and a cyclic GMP (cGMP)-specific phosphodiesterase (PDE) inhibitor to reduce the side effects or increase the efficacy of inhibitor treatment. Iressa has been used to treat certain cancers, particularly non-small cell lung cancer, particularly in patients where at least a first-line chemotherapy has failed. Under current practice, many types of therapy are typically used after first-line failure because they are so toxic and their side effects are so bad that the risks of the therapy outweigh the benefits until other chemotherapeutic options commonly have been exhausted.